The Merging of Magics
by SilverBlueMoon
Summary: "We've even got reports on unexplainable magic as close as Long Island. Probably have to check that out. The Serpent's Shadow, 401 " So what did happen when Sadie, Carter, and Walt decide to scope out the mysterious magic that seems to be lurking only a few miles away? Neither Camp Half Blood nor Brooklyn House will never be the same. Rated T for no apparent reason.
1. We Accidentally Anger an Army

**I came up with this after reading The Serpent's Shadow, when I considered what would happen if Carter and Sadie ever did investigate the "unexplainable magic" in Long Island.**

**Once you finish, be sure to vote on my poll and name a fear I could use on two of my other stories!**

**I do not own The Kane Chronicles, The Heroes of Olympus, or Percy Jackson. Happy?**

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**Sadie POV: We Accidentally anger a fully armed army.**

You'd think that after I saved the world, (three times, no less!) nothing could surprise me anymore. Well, it looks like I was wrong.

It all started on an average August day. The air was balmy, carrying just a hint of autumn, though it was still plenty hot enough to remind everyone that it was still summer.

I was on a mission with my annoying older brother, Carter, [What, you know it's true!] and my sort-of boyfriend(s), Walt/Anubis.

Carter was in the lead, acting every bit the leader we all know he is. Walt walked beside me, hand in mine. It was rather awkward, moving through the dense trees while holding onto someone else. Not that I was complaining.

Anyway, we were attempting to find the source of the unexplainable magic we'd been receiving reports of for months. The most alarming of these was in Long Island, just because it was so close. If the magic was a threat to Brooklyn House, then it was up to my insufferable brother and me to solve it.

"We should be near about there," Carter called out from the front.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go kick some magician bum," I laughed as I strode purposefully forward.

For those five meters or so, I'm sure I looked good, with my freshly dyed hair [turquoise streaks this time] flying behind me and my form-fitting black linen clothes. And then I hit the invisible barrier, breaking the illusion.

I flew backward a good meter and landed flat on my back. I sat up slowly, pulling the bits of grass and leaves from my hair, glaring at the two boys all the while.

Honestly, I'd have expected Carter to laugh at me. It's what brothers do. But Walt-_Walt_-was roaring with laughter too.

"If you're quite finished," I reprimanded primly, nose in the air, "We have work to do."

The pair nodded, helping each other to their feet. Neither of them helped me up. Honestly, boys!

"I think there's some sort of barrier there," Carter mussed, staring at the place where I'd fallen.

"No, really?" I questioned sarcastically.

"Let me," Walt intoned, moving cautiously towards the invisible wall. He moved his hand close to the place where I'd impacted, touching it with his fingertips. A faint sound, like crackling electricity shot out as Walt's had flew backwards. "Hm…" he considered.

"Sa-hei!" he shot out. The barrier gleamed, visible for the merest second before fading away.

Walt frowned. "That's some strong magic," Carter commented. "What if we tried all three, at once?" he suggested.

I reached out and gripped Walt's hand as Carter grabbed a hold of mine. Together we faced the barrier."

"On the count of three," Carter called. "One…two…three…"

"Sa-hei!" we called out.

The air in front of us shimmered, sending off ripples of what looked like liquid flames. A hole opened in the wall, just large enough for us to pass through, though it was rapidly shrinking.

We ran into the opening and through to the other side. What I saw was nothing short of amazing. It was like a summer camp, but the most ultimate summer camp ever.

There was a semicircle of twelve cabins, all different, with braches for other cabins to line up.

I could see what looked like a climbing wall, if climbing walls were meant to be lethal. I'm not convinced that they were.

We didn't get much of a chance to keep staring around, however, because of the army that seemed to materialize around us suddenly.

They wore polished bronze armor and carried weapons that looked upleasantly...sharp. Looking at them, I got the distinct impression that they were spilt into two teams; one half wore helmets with red plumes, the other with blue. Pair of elfin, mischievous-faced boys similar enough to be twins were clutching a flag printed with a bold caduceus.

I don't know how many people were there-I'd guess near a hundred, ranging from primary-school aged to college students. They glared at us with varying degrees of hostility, fear and apprehension.

I searched desperately for a face, any face that looked friendly. I was not expecting however, to see a girl with blonde pigtails and braces. I knew that face, gone to school with her for the past several months.

"Lacy?" I gasped, shocked. "What are you doing here?"


	2. The Oracle Gives Me a Headache

**I'm ba-ack!**

**Thank you everyone, for all of the support this story has gotten. It's my most popular one!**

**So please not that even though this takes place in mid-summer, Piper, leo, Jason, and Annabeth are still at camp. I know it's not exactly accurate, but that's how it works in this story.**

**I do not own Heroes of Olympus, Percy Jackson, or the Kane Chronicles.**

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I sat in a rickety wooden chair, attempting to look calmer than I felt. After we'd been marched through this camp of sorts, we'd arrived at this large, blue-painted building-much too small to be a proper mansion, but still rather enormous.

Walt sat beside me, hands grasped so tightly on his chair that his knuckles were white. I knew that he was doing everything in his power not to turn his seat into ashes with his Anubis-power.

We were surrounded by fewer people than before, though there were still quite a few teenagers around us. I glimpsed the impish, brown haired brothers from earlier, no longer smiling. I saw a stern-faced girl with leaves plastered to her hair, and a round-faced, blonde eyed boy who looked bored with the whole ordeal.

One girl in particular studied me with an expression that was not as threatening or scared as those I saw on other faces. Instead, she looked thoughtful, her gray eyes glimmering as ideas formed in her mind.

The one person I had hoped would be kind to us looked almost afraid. Lacy cowered behind a girl with choppy-brown hair who carried herself with an innate confidence that I wished I could rival.

"So…" I said, attempting to lighten the mood, "you come here often?"

To their credit, the carbon-copy brothers cracked faint smiles. "_Conner, Travis_," sighed the girl with leaves sticking out of her hair.

"_Katie_," they mimicked her.

"All of you stop it," ordered the blonde girl sternly. The three of them closed their mouths, though they continued to glare at each other silently.

Two new figures entered the room, and I suddenly felt a huge rush of power emanating from them. I knew from the expressions on Carter and Walt's faces that they felt the same.

The first of the two was a Centaur, of all things. A centaur! If not for everything that I had seen in the past year, I might have fainted dead away.

The second figure was threatening, though not in a conventional way. He was rather short and pudgy, with a mottled red face. His eyes were red rimmed and a startling shade of purple.

"What seems to be the problem?" questioned the man in a bored tone.

"Mr. D, we found them…in the woods."

"They broke through the barriers, somehow. I'm not sure how, really." The gray-eyed one explained. She turned and faced another girl, this one dark haired and covered with dark makeup. "Any ideas, Lou-Ellen?"

"None," says the dark-haired girl. "There's magic involved, but it's unlike anything I've seen before."

"Perhaps you should explain yourselves," the centaur instructed us calmly.

"Maybe we will, if you tell us what's going on first," I retorted.

"Sadie…" cautioned Carter, but I chose to ignore him.

The centaur sighed, looking as if he wished to be anywhere but there. "My name is Chiron," he told us finally, "And this is Camp Half Blood, where demigods go to train."

"Wait…" Carter cried, always the nerd. "When you say demigod…you mean …only half human?"

"Well, yes…" this Chiron bloke admitted.

"We're all children of Greek Gods," the blonde girl told us. "Travis and Connor over there are the sons of Hermes; Lou Ellen is a child of Hecate, and Katie is a daughter of Demeter."

I nodded as if I understood everything she said, though in truth I didn't know half of the names she said. I have enough trouble keeping track of the Egyptian gods without adding the Greek ones to the mix. Carter actually looked fascinated, though Walt's expression told me that all he wanted to do was run away.

"And who's your godly parent?" Carter questioned; his eyes bright with curiosity.

"Athena, goddess of wisdom, war strategy, and handicraft," the blonde girl told us. "My name is Annabeth."

"Perhaps it's time you told your side," drawled the pudgy man.

"Fair enough," I conceded. "Walt, Carter, and I, we're magicians from The House of Life."

Annabeth's eyes widened so far I feared they would fall out of her head. Everyone else looked confused.

"What does that mean?" questioned one of the two sons of Hermes-I couldn't keep their names straight when they looked so similar.

"It means that they follow the Egyptian ways," Annabeth told them.

"Right…" Carter added. "There are different divisions of the House of Life, who do different magics."

"There are diviners, combat magicians, elementalists…"

"Charm-makers and necromancers," Walt hurried to add in,

"And the Path of the Gods," Carter finished. An uproar filled the chamber upon uttering his last words.

Once the sound calmed down slightly, I pushed forward with our explanation. "Basically, that means that we can channel the power of one of the gods, and they can inhibit our bodies from time to time." I looked around, relishing the feeling of admiration flying in my direction. "Carter follows the path of Horus," I explained. "Me, Isis, and Walt over there _is_ Anibus."

"Oh, brilliant, another set of godlings to take care of," Mr. D sighed. "It'd just be easier to kill them off now," he added almost absentmindedly.

Carter jumped up in an instant, pulling a sword out from the Duat in the same motion. "Let's talk about this…" I stuttered nervously. The brown-haired girl pulled him away.

"Calm down," she instructed forcefully. I immediately felt myself relax in my seat, a completely unexpected reaction to her words. Even Mr. D pulled back, frowning.

"I wonder; could we channel the path of the gods?" Annabeth mussed quietly. "Would it work with Greek gods as well?"

"I don't know," Walt answered honestly. "We're not demigods like you; we're just mortals with unusual gifts,"

"Wait, you're _not_ demigods?" shrilled Katie. "How is that possible?"

"It just is," I told her. "Anyway, we must be going. We've already discovered what we needed to know, so we'll just head back home now…"

"I don't believe that is a good idea." Chiron the centaur told us. "Perhaps you should stay a while."

"What? Why?" I gasped, noting the same expressions on the faces of Carter and Walt.

Annabeth grimaced. "Why don't you ask our oracle?" she laughed ironically as she indicated a red-haired girl that I had somehow missed before.

She was neither tall nor short, neither skinny nor fat, though she was slender. She was wrapped in a deep green shawl so dark it was almost black. In stark contrast, she wore ripped jeans riddled with multi-colored ink doodles, and a paint-splattered white V-neck T-shirt underneath the silky fabric. Her red hair flew around her head like a cloud of fire, and her emerald colored eyes gleamed mysteriously. A smattering of freckles decorated her nose and cheeks.

"You're the oracle?" I asked in surprise.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare, at your service," she joked. "And yes, I'm the oracle. All of this is part of a prophecy that I saw a few weeks past."

"Would you care to repeat it?" I asked.

Rachel nodded. "I would, but not in here. The campfire should start soon, we'll hear it there. It's time the rest of camp knew it anyway."

* * *

The funny thing about the campfire was that it changed colors depending on the mood of the campers. At that moment, it was roaring twenty feet in the air and shimmering a brilliant sky blue.

Campers were sitting roasting marshmallows and pretending that they were not staring at us, but I ignored them.

I glanced up and caught the startled eyes of Lacy, who quickly turned away. I sighed, knowing full well I'd have to fix things with her sooner or later.

The atmosphere turned somber suddenly as Rachel stood up, the flames of the fire dimming to a midnight-blue.

"Due to an unforeseen turn of events, people whose existence we had never believed in stumbled into camp this afternoon," she addressed the crowd. "Due to this, I believe it is time that I shared with you my latest prophecy, one that concerns all of us." Rachel closed her eyes and fell backwards, though two campers jumped up and caught her before she could come in contact with the ground.

She opened her mouth and green smoke poured out. It curled around the campfire, staining it the same luminous green-poison green. It swirled about our ankles, and I felt a deep chill crawl up my legs from within my bones.

"Children of magic,

children of myth,

unknowns new meet,

together work to harness abilities new,

else suffer a fate worse than death."

I stared at Rachel. I was fairly certain that this was not good. The faces of the campers around me did little to reassure me.

Annabeth bit at her lip and played with the hat in her lap as she thought. Carter looked positively green, and I wondered if the mist had dyed his dark skin.

"Well, that sounds…interesting." laughed one of the two not-twins, though I could not tell if it was Connor or Travis who spoke.

"That is _not_ funny, Stoll," hissed a slender boy whom I recognized from the Apollo cabin.

"No, but it does sound like a good fight," tittered a girl who was positively frightening to look at. Short-cropped, spikey hair dyed a brilliant crimson. Startling blue eyes too bright to be anything but contacts, surrounded by a mountain of dark makeup and facial piercings.

I shuddered and turned away from the monstrosity. Walt seemed to find my reaction entertaining.

"So we all agree that this prophecy is a cause for concern," Carter pronounced. "And from the sound of it, there is a fight coming, one where we will need both of us to succeed."

Annabeth kicked at the ground in frustration. "Oh, gods of Olympus," she cursed. "I'd do anything to stay behind and see this through to the end, but…"

"But we're delayed enough as it is, and Leo's almost finished the ship," piped up the brown haired, lovely girl from earlier. I guessed her to be fifteen or so, around Carter's age, perhaps a few months older.

"That's right," called an olive-skinned, black-haired boy who could only be Leo. He looked like a mechanic, the most likely out of the group to build a ship.

"I have a feeling that all of this is connected, somehow," Annabeth mussed.

"You're right," the flame haired oracle conceded.

"Wait just one minute…_what_ is all connected?" I demanded.

"Well, it's just so unlikely that you just _randomly_ arrived days before Annabeth, Leo, Piper, and Jason have to set out on a quest unlike any in memory, and there just _happens_ to be a prophesy that concerns both magicians and demigods, something that has never happened before," exclaims Rachel. The pallor that had inhabited her cheeks was fading, replaced by the sudden onrush of blood and excitement.

"Perhaps we should call in our reinforcements," I stage-whispered in Carter's ear.

"There are more of you?" asked Piper.

"Well, yes, there are the rest of our pupils," I tell them. "Felix and Cleo, Sean and Alyssa, Julian and Jaz…and Zia. Though she is hardly a student," I add with a snide glance at my brother, who turns bright red.

"Don't forget the ankle-biters," he added, as if to mask his embarrassment. "Shelby and the others."

Annabeth exhaled. "Yes, call them in."

"I'm sure we'll be able to accommodate them somewhere," Chiron murmured. "We have the Big House, and Cabin Eleven, and I'm sure we could beg a favor from Hecate…"

"What? No!" cried Lou Ellen. "I don't care whether or not they can perform magic, mother would not approve!"

Chiron sighed. "Fair enough. We'll keep them in the Big House tonight, and arrange something more permanent when the rest of the magicians arrive."

Nods of consent rose from the crowd. I wasn't sure that I wanted to stay in the camp, but what could I do?

Chiron looked at Annabeth. "Could you lead them to the guest room, please? I have urgent business to attend to." He vanished from the clearing before she could respond.

Annabeth turned to face us, gray eyes glittering fiercely. "Come along, then."

"Wait!" called a small, girlish voice.

Annabeth sighed. "Lacy. What is it?"

I sucked in a breath before turning to face my friend.

"I…I wanted to walk along and…talk…" she mumbled.

The older girl frowned slightly. She glanced between her and me and back again, her lips pursed. "Fine," she said finally. "I can't see anything wrong with it yet."

Annabeth sets of at a brisk pace, Walt and Carter close by. I lagged behind, speaking with Lacy as we walked.

"So, demigod, hm?" I asked her. I looked Lacy up and down. While pretty, with her blonde hair and wide eyes, she looked too human to be anything else.

Lacy blushed, looking down at the slightly scuffed tips of her pink and white sneakers. "Yes."

"Who's your godly parent?" I questioned her. I couldn't recall if she'd told me or not at that moment, though I was sure that I would have remembered something like that.

"Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty," Lacy told me proudly.

I drew in a deep breath and faced her, eyes wide. It made sense, suddenly, why she was so interested in boys and clothing, even though she was only twelve.

"And I'm guessing that demigods aren't too common," I stated, though it was really more of a question.

"Well, I'm not too sure about that…" Lacy muttered. "In fact, you might have already known more than one of us before this."

I froze as I processed her words. They'd triggered a memory that I had all but forgotten about. I had a sudden image of large eyes surrounded by bright pink eyeliner and dark curls flashed through my mind, and my stomach clenched uncomfortably.

"Lacy-" I gasped. "When you said that you and Drew went to the same summer camp, please tell me that you did not mean this one."

Lacy had the good grace to look thoroughly depressed. "Actually, yes. Drew's my half-sister."

I gaped at her. It took me a good thirty seconds to close my mouth. It's a good thing that there were no insects flying around, or I might just have found a fly lodged in my throat.

"She's your _what_?" I screeched. "Drew is a demigod? She's _here_?" I shook my head to clear it. "I should've turned her into an earthworm when I had the chance," I muttered darkly.

Lacy's eyes widened, and she struggled to stifle a laugh.

"I could do it, too," I added. Being the third-strongest magician in the world does have its advantages, after all.

"I'm sure," Lacy said. "But you'd be hard-pressed to get Piper to agree."

I made a face. The brown-haired girl I'd met earlier had seemed like the anti-Drew, not one of her followers. "Does Piper like Drew, then?"

Lacy looked appalled at the very suggestion. "Oh, no! Piper_ hates_ Drew. She took over control of the cabin because she couldn't stand being told what to do by her.

"And," she added in a conspiring whisper, leaning close to my ear, "She tried to steal her boyfriend."

I scowled. It was just like Drew to do that. I still had a sore spot left over from when she'd tried to take away both Walt and Anibus from me. I decided that this Piper girl might be a good ally to have on my side.

* * *

We were set up in a small corner room that was just off the side of the rec room where we'd been interrogated earlier that day.

"Well, if that's everything, I'll be going now," Annabeth told us.

"Almost," Carter responded. "Would we be able to borrow some oil from the kitchen?"

Annabeth frowned. "Oil?"

"We need it to contact the others," I put in breezily.

"I see," she nodded. "Kitchen's down the hall to the right. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she was gone, Lacy following close behind.

Carter waited for a few minutes before running off to pick up the oil. I sat down next to Walt, who grabbed my hand.

"Isn't all of this just amazing?" Walt asked me.

I turned to him quizzically. "Amazing? All I see is a new headache to take care of."

"You don't believe that," Walt told me.

"Yes, I do!" I insisted, though I knew even at that moment that he was correct. My whole perception of the world had just been thrown sideways, and I no longer knew what to believe.

Carter wandered back in at just that moment, shaking away my melancholy mood.

"Right then, we need a bowl," I announced.

Walt furrowed his forehead in concentration as he reached into the Duat. I followed him with my gaze.

As always, it was a shock to see Anibus there, alone. I'd grown used to merging the two when looking through the "real" world.

While Walt searched for the scrying bowl, Anibus turned to face me. "Hello, Sadie," he said.

I simply melted. Even though he had been my official boyfriend for months now, seeing Anibus without Walt was something of a novelty to me.

He smirked upon seeing my reaction. Normally, I would have scowled and turned away while blushing furiously. This time, I grinned instead.

I blinked, bringing my focus back into the Big House. Walt presented Carter with a scrying dish. I stared at my warped reflection in the polished bronze surface as my brother poured the oil into the bowl and recited the incantation that would allow him to see.

The greenish-gold liquid rippled once and was still. The three of us leaned over the bowl, staring into it as if our lives depended on it.

We all jumped slightly as Zia's face materialized in the viscous liquid.

"Carter," she gasped. "What's up? Where are you? We couldn't find you anywhere. Alyssa tried to find your footprints, but she lost you after a while."

"We're okay," Carter rushed to assure her. "Just…shell-shocked."

Zia scowled. "Shell-shocked?"

"Yeah, we discovered-something," I told her.

"We'll explain everything tomorrow," Carter told her. "Just-could you get everyone here?" he asked her.

"Where is 'here'?" Zia questioned.

"Northern Long Island," I jumped in. "Can't miss it, with all of the magic vibes coming off of the barrier."

Zia opened her mouth to ask something more, but I cut her off. "This is vitally important. Everything that we thought we knew is wrong, Zia. Dead wrong. Come here with all of the students tomorrow and we'll tell you everything, I promise. But saying it over the oil is dangerous, deadly even."

A cold, hard look filled her warm amber eyes. Zia nodded once. "Early morning," she said.

The image on the oil rippled once and was still. Not even a hint remained that Zia's face had ever been within the golden liquid.

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**I know, I know: I suck at writing prophecies. Ah, well. Review, vote on my poll, check out my other stories.**


	3. We blow up some harmless sticks of wood

**I've been gone for so long, I won't even try to apologize. But my new year's resolution is to update more often.**

**First of all, I would like to thank WaLcReHtYlS for pointing out that I misspelled Anubis, as Anibus during the last chapters. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes of Olympus, Percy Jackson, or Kane Chronicles.**

* * *

I am _not_ a morning person, never was. And after a particularly eventful night, I hated dawn even more than before.

My _ba_ had decided to take a little trip (or two, or three) that night, and I was mentally exhausted.

Walt had decided to be aggravating as ever and looked…exceptionally well. Truth be told, I couldn't help but marvel at how much better he looked ever since Anubis saved his life. [Not that I'd ever admit it-ow, Carter! what was that for?!]

And, of course, Carter was being his usual, highly annoying self. [I swear, if you hit me with that couch pillow again, I will turn you into a wombat!]

Anyway, we stood at the top of the tallest hill around, staring at the road below. A golden pelt of some sort hung from a tree, and a dragon stared menacingly at us. We hadn't been here before, but Annabeth assured us that this was the camp's main entrance.

She touched the tip of one of the pine branches almost reverently as she told us the story of how the tree got there.

"But this Thalia, she's not a tree anymore, right?" I asked her.

Annabeth's face lightened slightly. "No, she's alive now. She lost many years, but she has all the time in the world now that she's a huntress."

I nodded. I didn't envy her years spent as a tree, but I was rather jealous of this girl's immortal state. Not that I would give up Walt to become immortal.

"They're coming," called Carter in front of me.

I blinked, forcing myself back into the present. All of the members of Brooklyn house were indeed arriving. They piled out of a large van-taxi large enough to fit all of them.

I watched as Zia threw a wad of dollar bills at the driver's head and helped the other students exit. The ankle-biters came first. Shelby clutched a blue crayon in her hand, and I shuddered, recalling the last time she'd made a drawing. Little Aiden and Luka bounced out behind her.

Jaz was next, reigning in the little ones before they could run off. Felix was holding onto the stuffed penguin that he'd been sent for his tenth birthday last week. Cleo looked around with wide eyes, clutching a notebook to her chest.

Sean stepped out last, and I wondered where our newest initiates, the ones we'd picked up over the summer, had gone.

The group proceeded to wander up the hill. Meters away from the tree, Zia stopped, her eyes narrowing. Slowly, she reached out a tentative hand, feeling for the magical wall.

"Carter?" she called. "There's a barrier here."

"Um, yeah, working on it," my brother called back.

"I'll do it," offered the choppy haired girl from yesterday. Piper. She stared at the invisible wall for a few seconds before addressing the magicians stuck outside. "I, Piper McLean, grant permission for the Magicians of Brooklyn House to enter camp." The power in her voice rippled across the camp. If I hadn't known better, I would have guessed her to be a word-magician.

The air shimmered almost imperceptibly as Zia and the others stepped forward. Carter rushed to hug Zia tightly. A small smile formed on my face as I watched them.

Beside me, Lacy made a small strangled sound. I followed her gaze back to my brother and grimaced. I'd forgotten, with everything that had happened that Lacy seemed to like Carter.

But she did, and it was painfully obvious to anyone who dared to look. Piper was studying Lacy with a woefully sympathetic expression. Drew and her groupies were smirking at each other as they indicated the lovesick demigod.

I felt my blood beginning to boil over, watching them. My hands clenched into fists as my protective urge surged.

"Everyone, these are the Magicians of Brooklyn House," I introduced, realizing that Carter was still…otherwise occupied. [Oh, shut up, Carter. You were!]

"Welcome," intoned Chiron cordially.

The whole situation was rather uncomfortable. Piper pushed forward and grinned at the newcomers, pushing back some of her hair as she did so. "Hey, I'm Piper," she told them.

Jaz smiled back cautiously. "Hey, Piper. I'm Jaz. Short for Jasmine, but don't call me that unless you want to wake up tied to a chair."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Things seemed to get easier from there. Our librarian, Cleo, walked beside Annabeth, the two deep in a conversation. All of the others filed behind Carter and I. Glancing back, I noticed a sad-looking Lacy kicking at the ground. I pulled away from my brother and linked arms with the demigod. "Hungry?" I asked. "I could use some breakfast right about now."

* * *

"A staff?" snorted the Ares kid derisively. "A wooden stick is your weapon?"

Carter drew a line in the dirt with his boot. "Yeah…"

"I'll fight," Zia announced. She walked into the ring, where the burly, well-muscled demigod waited. Even at her impressive height, Zia seemed dwarfed by the giant kid.

Carter looked quite nervous, and I rolled my eyes. Seriously. That girl of his had housed both the Sun God Ra and Nephthys, and been a successful fire elementalist for years. That boy burly didn't know what was coming.

In fact, when the battle was done five minutes later, the Ares kid was slumped on the ground with a rope tied around his body and part of his light brown hair singed off. "Not bad," he managed to choke out. "Name's Steven," he added as an afterthought.

A new figure emerged into the clearing. It was a slender boy of medium height who carried a bow and full quiver on his back. Will Solace, I think his name was. He flashed a slow, easy smile as he approached. "Have you tired any archery yet?" he asked us.

The Magicians glanced at each other. "No…"

"Seems like a good time to learn." He searched for a spare bow in a supply box nearby. "Ah, here we go," he said as he found one.

He handed the weapon to me, and I studied it silently. The smooth, dark wood gleamed under my fingers. It was larger and heavier than I'd expected a bow to be. I drew the string back, marveling at how hard my arm muscles had to work to get the wood to bend. The arrows looked very real and very sharp, and the tips were sculpted of some golden metal. I touched my finger to the unforgivingly-sharp edge of the arrow only to find that it slipped into and through my hand as easily as water and left no mark.

"It's celestial bronze. Good for monsters, demigods, and gods. Humans aren't important enough to be hurt by it." Will explained.

"Gee, thanks." I muttered. Still, I filed this information away in my mind to be used later on.

"Ready for the lesson?" Will asked me.

I nodded. "You hold it like this," he instructed me. I did as he said, standing with my body perpendicular to the target and struggling to pull back the arrow. My arm muscles trembled as I fought the weapon. After a minute or so of my quarrel with the bow, I managed to draw the arrow all the way back. I fired, missing the target by a good half-meter or so.

"That could've gone better," I sighed as I massaged my sore arm.

"Try again," Will Solace encouraged me.

This time, I hit the outer ring of the colorful straw target. I grinned as I relaxed my arm at last. My third arrow came even closer to the center, and I positively beamed.

"Huh," Carter muttered as he walked closer to us, sword fighting forgotten. "Sadie, do you think you can put a spell on an arrow?"

"Possibly," Will Solace answered for me, which was just as well, since I had no answer. "You'd have to put the spell on it before shooting."

I pursed my lips and pulled another arrow from my quiver. I notched it and concentrated on casting the spell. Somehow, I'd have to convince the magic to flow through the arrow, not into it. A shimmer built up in my mind, and I grew confident that I knew what I was doing. A few seconds later, I called out "Ha-di", and the arrow promptly exploded.

I spluttered and struggled to regain my composure as Carter and Zia howled with laughter. Will Solace actually looked worried for me, though luckily, I was fine. Hissing certain crude words under my breath, I indicated the miniscule splinters of wood and intoned the magic need to repair it, "Hi-nehm." The arrow bits merged back together, and I gingerly replaced it in the quiver.

"I think that's enough archery for today," I murmured somewhat embarrassedly as I returned the weapons to Will. He laughed for the first time as he went to put the bow away again.

"So, what now?" I asked, glancing at my brother and Zia, who shrugged.

"Wander around?" she asked. "I wanted to go check out the Pegasuses. Or, um, Pegasai?"

"Whichever," Carter responded. "Let's go check them out. Sadie?"

"Na, I'll pass," I had to find Lacy and talk to her at long last. I had an obligation to her as a friend.

* * *

"Is Lacy here?" I asked when the stunningly beautiful girl opened the door to the pastel-nightmare cabin.

"Yes," she said with the faintest hint of a southern accent as she flipped back her glossy dark hair and studied me with intense chocolate-colored eyes. She was wearing the same hideous orange T-shirt as everyone else, yet she managed to make it look good. pairing it with a jean miniskirt and golden statement necklace.

I squirmed slightly under her gaze. "May I see her, then?"

"Sure, I guess." She lead me inside and pointed at a lump curled up on the mattress, obscured by the crumpled blankets and sheets.

"Lacy," I called; sitting next to what I thought might be her head. "Lacy, come out." There was still no response. "Lacy, is this about my brother?" I asked her.

"No, it's NOT!" she shrieked, but we could both see that she was merely pretending.

"Lacy…" I started, then stopped. [I know, I know, I should've kept talking, but hard as it is to believe, I'm not superwoman. Carter's laughing. I wonder what I said?]

An idea struck me then, the one thing that Lacy might actually respond to. "So, um, your mother is Aphrodite, right?" I asked, feigning ignorance. "And she was in charge of love or something…"

"Or something," Lacy snorted. "Try not to insult my mother."

I made a tsking noise in the back of my throat. "What would your mother say; if she saw you like this?" I ducked as a pillow came flying in my direction.

Without another word, I slipped out of the pastel-nightmare cabin, hoping that I'd said the right thing to jolt my friend back into her old self.


End file.
